Jenson Button spots important Ferrari trait at F1 Monaco GP

The core strength of the Ferrari has been pinpointed after their unexpected pace on Friday at the F1 Monaco Grand Prix.

Charles Leclerc was fastest in both practice sessions at his home round, where he famously won for the first time a year ago.

Lewis Hamilton was third-quickest on Friday afternoon to continue Ferrari’s optimism after Imola, their home race last weekend, where they finally discovered some performance on the Sunday.

The already unique challenge of the tight and twisting Monaco circuit will have a layer of complexity on Sunday by a new mandatory two-stop rule.

But Ferrari are well-placed after Friday, and Jenson Button spotted the key to the SF-25’s speed.

“Even their drivers said that they wouldn’t be quick today,” Button told Sky Sports.

“Looking at the speed traces, and the sectors where they are quick, they might be running more power today than others.

“But, still. The car looks good out on track. They are able to get their front tyres working, which is the big thing.

“We heard from James Vowles at Williams, a lot of teams are struggling for front tyre grip, and getting it in working grip.

“The Ferrari can. So it has a really good front end, and you need that around a street circuit.

“That’s where their strength lies at the moment.”

Saturday qualifying sessions have traditionally been a weakness, for Hamilton in particular, dating back two years through his final Mercedes days.

But in Monaco he will arrive into arguably the most important qualifying session of the year comfortable with his competitive car.

Oscar Piastri backed despite F1 Monaco GP crash

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, the F1 standings leader, split the Ferraris as the second-fastest on Friday.

That was despite crashing in FP2 in the afternoon, a rare error.

“A little moment like that can happen,” Sky Sports’ Naomi Schiff analysed.

“It was an easy mistake, a little lock-up. And you end up in the wall.

“It didn’t really cost them anything in terms of time. They came in, a new front wing, and he was straight back out.

“He’s clearly confident in that car. Around here, that’s what you need. You need confidence that when you stick the car in, it follows what you are doing.”

Red Bull drivers Max Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda were 10th and 11th respectively.

“It wasn’t a great day for Red Bull, having the Racing Bulls up the road,” said Button, noting the sister team’s Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar finishing fifth and sixth respectively.

“[Red Bull] seem to be struggling.

“It looks like, when you watch him drive, that there is a lot of understeer in that car. One thing Max doesn’t like in an F1 car is understeer.”